Today in History

[3fingers]

On this day in 1947 Chuck Yeager was dropped from a B-29 in the Bell X-1 "Glamorous Glennis" and flew faster than the speed of sound for 18 seconds.
Kaboom.

 

[Peacoat]

Today in 1964 the Rolling Stones made the first of six appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was at my girlfriend's house, and her father (a classical music fan) shook his head and said, "They'll be lucky to last 2 years."

 

[Fading Fast]

Today in 1964 the Rolling Stones made the first of six appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was at my girlfriend's house, and her father (a classical music fan) shook his head and said, "They'll be lucky to last 2 years."

And from the '90s on, there have been several albums released of Stones' compositions played entirely by a classical orchestra.

 

[Peacoat]

30 years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. It had been erected in 1961 and stood until 1989. I was afraid it would never come down, but it has now been down longer than it was up. A friend of mine from Hamburg was there. He got several pieces of the Wall and sent me a small one. It is in a frame in my living room.

 

[Fading Fast]

30 years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. It had been erected in 1961 and stood until 1989. I was afraid it would never come down, but it has now been down longer than it was up. A friend of mine from Hamburg was there. He got several pieces of the Wall and sent me a small one. It is in a frame in my living room.

And it felt like a long shot when Reagan gave his "Tear Down This Wall" speech in June of '87.

 

[Peacoat]

And this is a big one in the US: Today in 1960 JFK defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency. So long ago, so many changes since then.

 

[Fading Fast]

"On the evening of Nov. 9, 1989, an unremarkable East German functionary named Günter Schabowski bungled an assignment—and accidentally helped bring down the Berlin Wall."

From this interesting read on the fall of the Wall:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-or...the-berlin-wall-11573228405?mod=hp_lista_pos1

(The WSJ is a subscription site, but I read that it was "free" this weekend - so, if you're interested, give it a shot.)

 

[Peacoat]

"On the evening of Nov. 9, 1989, an unremarkable East German functionary named Günter Schabowski bungled an assignment—and accidentally helped bring down the Berlin Wall."

From this interesting read on the fall of the Wall:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-or...the-berlin-wall-11573228405?mod=hp_lista_pos1

(The WSJ is a subscription site, but I read that it was "free" this weekend - so, if you're interested, give it a shot.)

What an interesting read. Never knew why the Wall came down; it all seemed so abrupt and unplanned. Now I know it was. And I didn't know Angela Merkel was one of the East German captives who crossed in the days following the demise of the wall. Little did the 35 year old chemist know in those early days what awaited her in the future.

Thanks for posting the link to the article.

 

[scotrace]

Nov. 9, 1967-- Rolling Stone magazine is published for the first time.

Nov. 9, 1872-- The Great Boston Fire took out 65 acres of downtown, burned out 776 buildings and killed 13. One of the biggest and costliest such fires, ever.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On this day in 1970, The Great Wall of China was opened to tourists.

 

[GHT]

1913 Battersea elected the first black mayor in London, John Archer, born in Liverpool of Jamaican parents. The honour of Britain's first black mayor goes to Allen Glaser Minns (Dr. Allan Glaisyer Minns?) who was elected Mayor of Thetford, Norfolk in 1904.

1925 Richard Burton, legendary Welsh actor, was born, at Pontrhydyfen.

1942 Buoyant after the desert victory at El Alamein, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said: 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.'

1944 The birth of Tim Rice, best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and additional songs for the 2011 West End revival of The Wizard of Oz.

1958 British speed enthusiast Donald Campbell broke the water speed record of 248mph on Coniston Water. He died in 1967 (also on Coniston Water) and is buried in the new parish churchyard at Coniston.

1960 Bookshops all over England sold out of Penguin's first run of 200,000 copies of the controversial novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.

 

[Edward]

30 years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. It had been erected in 1961 and stood until 1989. I was afraid it would never come down, but it has now been down longer than it was up. A friend of mine from Hamburg was there. He got several pieces of the Wall and sent me a small one. It is in a frame in my living room.

I well remember it. I was fourteen in the Summer of 89, and there was a Scout jamboree in the north of Ireland that year, at Gosford Castle park, County Armagh. Scouts from all over the world, but the biggest buzz was that both the Polish and the Russians - then still the USSR - had sent a delegation, which was considered extremely surprising. This was just at the time of the POlish Solidarity movement starting to kick off. I ended up with a German penpal that I wrote to for a few years; I remember him inssiting he didn't care one way or the other about Germany reuniting, though he did veyr kindly send me a few fragments of the Wall from a trip to Berlin! In September 1999 I went on the first work-trip abroad entirely on my own, to Berlin, and saw them erecting the stage for the tenth anniversary celebrations in front of the Brandenberg Tor. (That area around Unter Den Linden and Friederich Platz is my favourite part of Berlin.) In 1999, you could still see the huge space of what had been 'no-man's land', but it was surrounded by cranes. In 2000, when I went back, it was a building site; when I last visited (shamefully, for a city I adore, must change that) in 2002, it was all built up, Potsdammer Platz was a thing, and the once-cool squatland of Kreuzberg in the East was gentrified, and the cool kids were moving to the West for cheaper accomodation....

1958 British speed enthusiast Donald Campbell broke the water speed record of 248mph on Coniston Water. He died in 1967 (also on Coniston Water) and is buried in the new parish churchyard at Coniston.

Did they find his body in the end? Im' sure I remember it being a 'thing' that for years at least it was never found after the Bluebird exploded.

1960 Bookshops all over England sold out of Penguin's first run of 200,000 copies of the controversial novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Like all controversial novels, soemwhat inevitably, it's really not that great, tbh.... but the significance of the trial is huge - the only twentieth century English obscenity trial that comes close to as important was the Oz trial in 1970. Lady Chatterly is so important because it was the test case for the defence of 'Public Good', introduced for the first time by the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Of course, Penguin's use of the defence re the first publication of the novel in its unexpurgated form, swears, sex and all, was upheld by the jury, and Penguin went on to make a fortune. There is, I am told, only one year in the twentieth century which one single book has outsold the Christian Bible in the UK, and that was Lady Chatterly in 1961. Notably, the second edition, published to satisfy demand for it in 1961 after the trial, bears a dedication from Penguin books to the jury members whose decision legitimised its publication.

 

[GHT]

Today in 1964 the Rolling Stones made the first of six appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was at my girlfriend's house, and her father (a classical music fan) shook his head and said, "They'll be lucky to last 2 years."

The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the United States in 1964 and were identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the band started out playing covers but found more success with their own material; songs such as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Paint It Black" became international hits. After a short period of experimentation with psychedelic rock in the mid-1960s, the group returned to its "bluesy" roots with Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971), and Exile on Main St. (1972). It was during this period they were first introduced on stage as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World"

It was their first manager Andrew Oldham that created the bad boy image, he said, later in life, that up until then Liverpool had dominated the British 60's scene. Seeing the popular bands wearing a 'uniform,' Oldham had The Rolling Stones dress each to their own. Frontman Jagger, always a larger than life character couldn't be more different when away from the stage. His knowledge of the game of cricket is so good that he was invited by a television company to commentate on a televised match. He said that at the time the band were booked to tour, how he would have loved to take up the commentary offer.

 

[GHT]

Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France at 5:45 am, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning: "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918." But, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the US First Division, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, only ending at nightfall. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was only reached when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.

The date is a national holiday in France, and was declared a national holiday in many Allied nations.

During World War II, many countries changed the name of the holiday. Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted Remembrance Day, while the US chose Veterans Day. In some countries Armistice Day coincides with other public holidays.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

244 years ago today was born the United States Marine Corps in Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, Pa.
As appropriate a place as could be for such a fine group of up-fighting young men!
Semper Fi
Chesty be proud!
B

 

[Peacoat]

244 years ago today was born the United States Marine Corps in Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, Pa.
As appropriate a place as could be for such a fine group of up-fighting young men!
Semper Fi
Chesty be proud!
B

Semper Fi Brothers.

 

[MissMittens]

On this day in 1783, British troops evacuated New York city, their last military position in the United States

Today in 1947, Hollywood instituted it's first official blacklist, denying employment entertainment professionals rumored to have alleged Communist ties or sympathies

 

[Peacoat]

On this day in 1963, President Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington. A dark time in our history.

 

[Peacoat]

On this date in 1890 the first Army-Navy football game was played at The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Unfortunately, Army lost 24 to 0. There have been other games and many victories for Army over the years. Fortunately, Army has won all of them since Navy's quarterback, Keenan Reynolds graduated in 2016. It was a dark era while he was at Annapolis.

I was actually hoping he did well in the League, but he has had mixed success with Seattle. He was converted to wide receiver, then released, then picked up for the practice squad. Not sure what his current status is, but I sure am glad he is gone from Annapolis.

 

[Peacoat]

Today in 1937, Little Richard (Penniman) was born in Macon, GA. The last I knew he was living in Nashville. One of my employees is friends with him and gave me an autographed picture of the singer. I wanted him to come to the office and talk a bit about his life, but he was having mobility problems at the time. We couldn't get it to happen. I think he is now confined to a wheelchair.